Hamlet play biography

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Tragedy by William Shakespeare

This article is about the play by William Shakespeare. For its protagonist, see Prince Hamlet. For the type of settlement, see Hamlet (place). For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation).

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his attempts to exact revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother. Hamlet is considered among the "most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language", with a story capable of "seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others". It is widely considered one of the greatest plays of all time. Three different early versions of the play are extant: the First Quarto (Q1, 1603); the Second Quarto (Q2, 1604); and the First Folio (F1, 1623). Each version includes lines and passages missing from the others.

Many works have been pointed to as possible sources for Shakespeare's play, from ancient Greek tragedies to Elizabethan dramas. The editors of the Arden Shakespeare question the idea of "source hunting", pointing out that it presupposes that authors always require ideas from other works for their own, and suggests that no author can have an original idea or be an originator. When Shakespeare wrote, there were many stories about sons avenging the murder of their fathers, and many about clever avenging sons pretending to be foolish in order to outsmart their foes. This would include the story of the ancient Roman, Lucius Junius Brutus, which Shakespeare apparently knew, as well as the story of Amleth, which was preserved in Latin by 13th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum, and printed in Paris in 1514. The Amleth story was subsequently adapted and then published in French i

For the geographic definition for a place smaller than a village, see Hamlet (place).

Not to be confused with Hamlet (lost play).

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedyplay by William Shakespeare. It is one of his best-known plays, and many lines have become famous quotations. The play is often just called Hamlet.

Hamlet was written between 1600 and 1602, and first printed in 1603. With 4042 lines and 29551 words, Hamlet is the longest Shakespearean play. The play was based on another play also named Hamlet, which is now lost, unlike Shakespeare's Hamlet. It’s also based on a story called Amleth by Saxo Grammaticus.

Plot

Hamlet is a young prince in Denmark who was supposed to become king when his father (also named Hamlet) died. Instead, Hamlet's uncle Claudius took the throne for himself and married Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. Hamlet meets a ghost of his dead father, who tells him that he was poisoned by Claudius. The ghost tells Hamlet to kill Claudius in revenge.

Hamlet is at first not sure whether to believe the ghost, so he tries to investigate. He pretends to be mad to hide what he is doing. As the play goes on, it becomes hard to tell if Hamlet is actually mad or still just pretending. His behaviour causes him to fall out with Ophelia, a girl he was in love with. He eventually has the idea of getting some actors to put on a play about a king being killed, in the same way that the ghost described, to see how Claudius reacts. Claudius panics when he sees the play, and Hamlet sees this as proof that his uncle is a murderer.

Hamlet has a chance to kill Claudius in the castle chapel, but cannot bring himself to do it. He instead visits his mother, and they have an argument because Ham